6 books about people who achieved everything but could not feel happiness

**6 books about people who achieved everything but could not feel happiness**

We often hear about successful people: how they acquire untold wealth, gain recognition and fame, and find love. But what if the result does not bring pleasure? Today we will talk about books that focus on this very problem. In them, prosperity does not bring peace of mind to the characters, and fulfilled dreams give rise to new problems.

**“Martin Eden”, Jack London**

“Martin Eden” is Jack London's most famous work. It directly shows what trials can await a person who has achieved success.

At the center of the work is the sailor Martin Eden. He falls in love with a girl from the upper class and decides to gain fame as a talented writer by any means in order to be with her. The protagonist works tirelessly on self-improvement. However, having achieved success, he loses faith in society, love, and even himself.

**“The Wild Ass's Skin”, Honoré de Balzac**

Another mystical novel that made its author truly famous. “The Wild Ass's Skin” brought Balzac his first fame and is still considered one of the most important works in his career.

According to the plot, the poor but ambitious Raphael encounters a mysterious antique dealer. The seller offers him a powerful item — a magical piece of wild ass's skin that can fulfill any wish. However, there is a very harsh condition for the talisman to work: in exchange for each fulfilled wish, the piece of skin shrinks, taking years away from its owner's life.

**“Flowers for Algernon”, Daniel Keyes**

To be "dear to everyone," one does not necessarily have to achieve wealth and fame. Sometimes, the fulfillment of one big dream is enough, as in Daniel Keyes's famous work “Flowers for Algernon”.

The main character, janitor Charlie Gordon, is intellectually disabled. He always dreamed of reading and being smarter, just like others. For this reason, he does not hesitate to agree to an experimental technology — a surgery to artificially increase intelligence. This method had previously been successfully applied only once — on a laboratory mouse named Algernon.

**“The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald**

In “The Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald extensively reveals the main idea — how a person can have everything and yet fail to achieve happiness.

“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.”

This is the very problem that befalls the central character of the novel, Jay Gatsby. A talented businessman, Gatsby amasses a huge fortune, builds an incredible mansion on Long Island, and hosts extravagant parties there every weekend. He did all this with a single goal — to win back his beloved. However, neither his beloved nor anyone else responds to him with affection.

**“The Financier”, Theodore Dreiser**

“The Financier” is Dreiser's novel based on the biography of the American millionaire Charles Yerkes. As a reflection of immense success, the work shows that wealth and influence do not make the main character happy, and the desire to achieve more deprives him of even what he has.

At the center of events is Frank Cowperwood, a talented financier from Philadelphia. He starts earning money from a young age and gradually enters the circle of the city's largest magnates. Although he has money, a family, reputation, and his own brokerage firm, Cowperwood does not want to limit himself to what he has achieved — he always wants to surpass himself, no matter the cost.

**“Great Expectations”, Charles Dickens**

“Great Expectations” is one of Charles Dickens's last novels and is rightfully considered one of the most mature works in his career. In it, besides the theme of goals and the price paid to achieve them, the author reveals the idea of growing up, criticizes a society that worships only material things, and shows that goodness can overcome any difficulty.

The work tells the story of several stages in the life of Pip, a simple peasant boy. He meets Estella, a beautiful but cold girl from a noble family. The young man falls in love with her, and now his main goal is to be worthy of his beloved. Unexpectedly, he achieves his dream: a mysterious benefactor leaves him a large inheritance.